Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) plans to spend more than R2,000 crore to add around 900 kilometre of pipeline network over the next three years, sources in the company told FE.
The company plans to build three pipelines connecting Rewari, Haryana to Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh; Mangalore to Bangalore in Karnataka, and Awa to Salwas, near Jodhpur, Rajasthan, sources added.
The Rewari-Kanpur multiproduct pipeline will span around 440 km, with a capacity of 8 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA). The project has obtained stage-l forest clearance for diversion of forest land in Haryana last November and in Uttar Pradesh in March this year from the regional offices of the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF). The Mangalore-Hassan-Mysore-Solur LPG pipeline will span 410 km, with a capacity of 3.10 MMTPA, while the multi-product Awa-Salwas pipeline will run for 92 km transporting up to 2.30 MMTPA of fuel.
The company, which currently has pipeline network of around 2,500 km with more than 20 MMTPA of capacity, will finance the construction through a combination of debt and cash on hand. HPCL had cash and cash equivalents of R864.71 crore at the end of the March quarter. HPCL in January also invited bids for the construction of its its 165 km long Uran-Chakan-Shikrapur LPG pipeline project in Maharashtra. This pipeline is set to have a capacity of 1 MMTPA. BPCL and HPCL had already proposed to lay a LPG pipeline from their Mahul Refineries to evacuate their LPG to Uran for which work is progressing. The proposed Uran to Chakan Pipeline will be an extension of Mahul to Uran Pipeline.
The state run oil refiner currently operates the 1,054 km Mundra-Delhi Pipeline (MDPL) pipeline, which has a capacity of 5 MMTPA and the 572 km Visakh-Vijayawada-Secunderabad pipeline that can carry up to 5.38 MMTPA. HPCL has also outlined plans to expand its refining capacity and recently tied up with the government of Rajasthan to build a 9 MMTPA green field refinery cum petrochemical complex at a cost of more than R37,000 crore in the state’s Barmer district.
A recent shift in the proposed site of the refinery to Pachpadara from Leelala within Barmer stirred political controversy and led to the resignation of Rajasthan state revenue minister Hemaram Choudhary.
“We hope the issue is resolved within the next three months, progress will be made soon,” said a company source.
